


Nobody But You

by theskyisblue



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Father and Son dynamic, It's Been Three Episodes And They Need to be Canon, M/M, Owen Strand is Father Goals, TK Learning to Love, TK Protection Squad, Tarlos - Freeform, sort of an introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22462849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskyisblue/pseuds/theskyisblue
Summary: A little bit of an introspection based on the lyrics of Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani's song "Nobody But You"If TK could travel back in time to tell his old self he would be hooking up casually with a sexy Austin cop who should make wearing shirts illegal, he would have probably threw a dart at his future self and flabbergasted on what the hell he was high on.Because in all honesty, TK didn’t do hook-ups.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star)/TK Strand, Owen Strand & TK Strand
Comments: 16
Kudos: 344





	Nobody But You

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my first attempt at a Tarlos fic, and it turned out to be more of a TK introspection 0.0 
> 
> Regardless, I hope you enjoy :)

_All the wasted days, all the wasted nights  
I'll blame it all on being young…_

TK was sure he knew what love was. 

At first, he knew what it _wasn’t._ Even though he was still a child then, watching his parents arguing back and forth, sometimes not even being able to bear being in the same vicinity as each other, he was sure that love was not this. It couldn’t be the constant shouting from his father and mother before the divorce, because no one who loved each other looked at one another like it was painful just being in each other’s presence. Love was not when his mother packed up her bags in the blink of an eye and left, not once looking back. Back then, he couldn’t understand how love could turn from soft smiles and tender touches to cold, biting words and icy atmospheres. 

He spent his high school years terrified out of his mind when he realized he was staring at _boys_ longer than he should have, that while his classmates drooled over the cute girl waitresses, he was looking at the male barista smiling brilliantly at a customer in the window across the street. 

He was still young and hadn’t really understood why he was different from his peers, not until he felt his heart physically stutter at the mere presence of the new male exchange student in school, that he began to see himself in a different light. 

He felt different because he _was_ different. But despite his sexual preferences, he was still _TK Strand,_ son of firefighter extraordinaire Owen Strand, something his father had made sure to drill into his brain that night when he clung to his broad figure, tears streaming down his face as he first uttered the words _“I’m gay”_ out loud. 

When he graduated from the fire academy, his father didn’t even wait for him to finish walking off the auditorium stand before sweeping him up into his arms like he was eight all over again, laughing and hugging him tightly. TK remembered the sparkle in his eyes that certainly matched his own as he laughed and hugged back, equally tightly. Everything was so warm, as was every single one of his father’s hugs because their familial love was something TK had always held close to his heart. 

Then he used for the first time. 

There had been an accident during a call, and TK hadn’t seen the beam falling as the roof caved in. It was months in the hospital nursing his injury, thoughts a mess as he wondered if he’ll ever be well enough again to continue being a firefighter. The pain killers he was prescribed made him forget, and when he was finally discharged and got hooked up with a dealer, he didn’t hesitate to pop the pill, blissfully wondering why he couldn’t feel this light and free all the time. His father had been with him through every step when he first entered the hospital, but TK couldn’t stand seeing his gentle nature, his everlasting understanding as TK lashed out and pushed him away. He was in pain, which meant he was making his father be in pain, and he couldn’t stand that. His father had tried to hide how tired he was, but no matter what time he ended shift he would always make it out to see his son in the hospital. On one particular day when the phantom pain in his body was too much to take, he stuffed all the pills he had and had felt the lightest he’s been since the accident. 

But life seemed to veer in a different direction.

His father found him, lying motionless in the middle of his living room and somehow brought him back to life. There were sirens, hands putting pressure on his chest, and when he finally opened his eyes, he was greeted with the familiar white ceiling of the hospital once again. He wasn’t prepared to wake up again, and when he saw his father already staring at him when he opened his eyes, TK didn’t know what to say. 

Didn’t know what to say and _couldn’t_ find the words to start. All he felt was a lump in his throat at the way his father was looking at him, because it was so raw, so _fragile,_ that he felt if he said something right now, he would only make things worse. 

“I’m…so glad you’re okay.” TK felt his father’s familiar arms wrap around him tightly, pretending not to hear the crack in his voice at the end, and closed his eyes, leaning into the warmth. 

“Won’t happen again.” TK heard himself saying softly, not quite recognizing his own voice, but that only made Owen hold him tighter. 

“I know.” 

They didn’t let go of each other for a while, and TK internally swore he wouldn’t do this again, feeling himself tightening his hold on Owen. He loved his father too much to let him go. 

_Don't have to leave this town to see the world  
'Cause it's something that I gotta do  
I don't wanna look back in thirty years  
And wonder who you're married to  
Wanna say it now, wanna make it clear  
For only you and God to hear  
When you love someone, they say you set 'em free  
But that ain't gonna work for me_

It had been a hard year of sobriety when he first saw Alex. 

As their eyes met in the gym, TK was brought back to his time in high school when he nearly fell out of his chair when he saw the beautiful barista through the window. Though this time, he wasn’t the scared kid afraid of his feelings. 

This time, he was prepared. 

“Need a spotter?” TK made sure to bring out his charming smile, and the guy seemed a little taken aback before smiling shyly. 

“That…would be great.” As TK followed him to the weights, he couldn’t help a slight skip in his step when he saw him discretely giving him a once-over and couldn’t really complain as he did the exact same thing just moments before. When their eyes met again, TK felt his heart thumping harder in his chest at the warm smile that he was greeted with once again. 

“I’m Alex.” 

“TK.” 

“Oh? Stand for something?” Alex raised an amused eyebrow, and TK grinned cheekily. 

“Maybe. But it’s gonna take a few dates before I cave and tell you.” TK had asked people out before Alex, but never with his heart racing like he had just run a marathon with his brain turning to mush at the beautiful man standing in front of him. 

“I see.” Alex chuckled, and TK once again, felt his chest warm at the smile that was still directed his way. Owen had given him a heartfelt talk about dating a few years ago, and his father’s words subconsciously rang through his head as he stood and watched as Alex started to lift the barbell. 

_“One day, you’re going to meet someone who makes your world brighter just by being in it, who’s going to love you when you can’t love yourself and treat you better than you think you deserve. It might take some time, but when that love comes, hold onto it, TK, and don’t let it go.”_

TK thought Alex was the love of his life. 

He had never quite learned to be subtle and threw everything he had in their relationship. Things were good for the first year, and a few months after that, but TK would have been lying to himself if he didn’t notice that things started to be different close to their second anniversary. He thought that he had done everything right, going at it slow and steady. Hell, they never even got into bed until their third month of dating. Figuratively, and literally. He wanted everything to be perfect, wanted Alex to feel loved and cherished, because TK had never fallen in love before, and even though it was terrifying, the exhilaration he felt being in love was something that even his job couldn’t beat. 

TK really thought he knew what being _in_ love was. 

From the high he would feel when Alex kissed him, how his body would burn wherever Alex touched him, the constant stuttering of his heart when Alex laughed, teased, joked around, how his chest would throb with warmth when he woke up to see Alex beside him, to the electricity that made him shiver whenever their eyes met. TK was in love, which he realized, made him stupid. 

He knew that things had changed between them, but he thought he was enough. That his love for Alex was _enough._ Enough for them to get through this patch, to hold onto each other as they tread though life together. 

He wasn’t prepared for the words that would haunt him for days after that night. 

_“I’m in love with someone else.”_

The other customers in the restaurant had continued with their meals, chatting idly. The waiter had just left after pouring them each a glass of wine, and the world…had kept on moving. 

But TK…had simply froze. 

It was like a blanket of white noise had formed a filter between him and everything else. He could see the chicken and vegetables he left untouched on the table; the fish fillet barely eaten in front of Alex. The redness of the wine he had prepared for this occasion, and most importantly…

He felt the ring in his hands, like an annoying pebble in his running shoes. 

If someone asked him to recount that night detail for detail, he wasn’t sure he could. All he remembered was clenching the ring tightly, Alex’s gaze shifting uncomfortably, and their meals left unfinished at the table. Alex had gotten up first, had _apologized,_ and TK…didn’t say anything. Didn’t know _what_ to say. 

What do you even say to someone you were prepared to spend the rest of your life with when they tell you they’re in love with someone else? 

Then Alex left. 

Leaving TK, who sat at their table for a while, looking at the unfinished fish on Alex’s plate, the still full bottle of wine and at how white the tablecloth was. 

Next thing he knew, his father’s face was in view, paramedics around them, his _team_ around them, and TK couldn’t hold back the yearning for something physical to hold onto anymore. He clutched onto Owen, his father not even questioning why he was apologizing profusely, instead holding him tighter, and TK allowed himself to let go. 

_Got no regrets 'cause it got me here  
But I don't wanna waste another one  
I've been thinking about what I want in my life  
It begins and ends the same_

Moving to Austin was…not what TK had expected to be the words to leave his father’s mouth. 

_“Austin? Austin Texas?” TK was completely baffled at the sudden change, and Owen nodded, eyes darting to the side._

_“They need someone to start anew there, build up a new firehouse, and I agreed to go.” Owen said, and TK felt that there was more to the story but wasn’t quite in his right mind to question it._

_“Let’s do it.”_

Being a part of a new team, getting to know people who would be putting their lives in each other’s hands was always fun, and a little scary. But TK found himself enjoying the company of his new teammates; they each had their own talents and backgrounds, and everyone respected each other for who they were. Going on calls with his team, was a good distraction from everything that had happened in New York. 

But TK couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. 

Sure, putting out fires, nearly killing himself in that silo incident, rescuing people who didn’t think heights were dangerous seemed to be enough to get his adrenaline running, but it was almost as if the adrenaline was practiced, _rehearsed,_ that everything he was feeling wasn’t what he _truly_ felt, deep down. 

Because when TK dug deeper, he was met with nothing. And that scared him. 

_There was nothing more terrifying than realizing that you couldn’t find a proper response to anything that happened around you. To have the world keep spinning and being trapped in the in-between._

The first time he felt the beginning of a spark, was when Carlos Reyes decided to ask him to dance. TK had vaguely remembered the police officer on scene at the car accident, proudly vocalizing that the fire captain of the 126 was his dad, all the while ignoring the fuzzy static that couldn’t seem to disappear in his body. He hadn’t really noticed the man all that well then, but dressed in his civvies, the t-shirt barely covering his massive biceps in the bar that had everyone somehow do the line dance, TK was surprised when he felt…something. It was small, but it was so far the only thing he’s _felt_ since moving to Austin. 

_If I had to choose what I couldn't lose  
There'd only be one thing_

If TK could travel back in time to tell his old self he would be hooking up casually with a sexy Austin cop who should make wearing shirts illegal, he would have probably threw a dart at his future self and flabbergasted on what the hell he was high on. 

Because in all honesty, TK didn’t do hook-ups. 

He had always hated the idea of sleeping with someone, only to sneak out after, or waking up to an empty bed that would feel cold when he put his hand on the sheets. He was a romantic, wanting to find a love that his father had told him about, and feel for himself what being in love was like, if the movies even did it justice.

He just wasn’t expecting his perception of love could be shattered by just six simple words. 

At first, TK thought the hook-ups would make him feel something, just like he had that night at the bar. To think that two men tearing clothes off each other’s bodies without abandon, slamming into walls and everything in between to desperately find the couch would make the fuzz in him disappear. That Carlos manhandling him against everything and kissing and biting him everywhere would make him feel _something._

It didn’t. 

Not that sex with Carlos wasn’t great, and in all honestly it was probably the best sex he’s had in a while, but that wasn’t what made that spark come back.

It was when Carlos would grasp his neck gently before they kissed, or ran his fingers through his hair to soothe him as he sucked a hickey on his neck. It was when they were calming down from their high and he would hold him like he was precious, a hand reaching up to caress his cheek, allowing them both to catch their breaths. It was when, whenever TK was thrown on the couch or shoved against the wall Carlos always made sure to cushion him with a hand behind his head and stopped to ask if he was okay, staring at him with lust-filled brown eyes but still waiting for his answer before continuing. And TK…

TK’s heart would stutter every time, the fuzz in his chest disappearing for something else, something more raw and emotional, that he made himself shut down before he did something embarrassing, like burst out crying. Carlos was a nice guy, but TK wasn’t sure how he would react if he just started crying out of nowhere, especially in the middle of sex. The hook-ups…helped, in a sense, but TK knew that it wasn’t the hook-ups, but the _person he was hooking up with_ that started to stir something in his chest, and he wasn’t ready to find out why or what it was. 

_It was too soon._

He allowed time to pass. For him to act like a total ass when Carlos invited him to dinner at an ungodly hour of the night (though really, who texts someone they want to _meet up at 1am_ and _not_ expect it to be a hook up??), to get arrested and feeling his heart stutter once again in the station when Carlos actually picked up a napkin to help clean his bloodied lip even though things were still tense between them, and to also blindly agreeing to a date only to complain about his co-worker while Carlos listened to him anyway. 

Time passed, and TK finally, little by little, started to feel the fuzz beginning to clear. He was more open with his team, even coming clean to them about his addiction, found himself genuinely laughing more often at their antics, tried his best to fight back the way his heart would jump in his chest whenever Carlos was near, and even stayed level-headed even though he was worried out of his mind when his dad told him that he had cancer. TK pushed himself through the blockade of _all the shit that happened in New York_ and let himself immerse in Austin, his team, accompanying his dad to appointments and chemo, slowly allowing himself to heal. 

On a Friday, two months after coming to Austin, he found himself fidgeting slightly as he waited for Carlos by his car to finish up on a call they both participated in, when a woman found herself trapped in a shipping container that some local gangs had decided to scrap to hide their tracks, not knowing someone was in it. During the call, TK found his eyes drifting to Carlos on instinct, a problem that seemed to occur whenever they were on the same call together, no matter how hard he tried not to. He elbowed Judd who had found him hilarious, all the while ignoring Paul’s knowing smirk as they worked to get the woman out of the dented container. 

“You know if you stare any harder, he might notice you.” Paul teased, and TK glared at him, his hands full with keeping some debris in place or else he would have shoved him off the piece of metal he was standing on. 

Or maybe smack him a few times with the metal rod lying by his feet. 

He wasn’t picky. 

“I don’t need him to notice me.” TK could practically _feel_ the lie between his teeth, but still bristled when everyone a part of his team close enough to hear snorted. 

“It’s alright TK, officer Reyes is already undressing you with his eyes as we speak, I think he notices you _just_ fine.” Mateo snickered, and TK really wanted to shove all his teammates off the container they were standing on right now, screw the laws of friendship. 

“I hate you all.” TK groaned, and they all exchanged a glance before grinning wildly. 

“Is that a blush?” 

“It’s totally a blush.” 

“Aww, no need to feel _embarrassed,_ TeeKay~” 

“ _Concentrate_ on the job you assholes.” TK scowled, and ignored their laughter as they successfully removed the woman from the container, and since it was taking a while to arrange what would happen with the gang members, TK found himself waiting next to Carlos’ ride, ignoring how the rest of his team shot him knowing looks. 

“To whom do I owe the pleasure of your presence?” 

TK felt the familiar stutter in his chest at Carlos’ teasing voice, a feeling that, if it had been just two months before, he wouldn’t have stood his ground as he is doing now, a rare rush of determination flooding through his veins. 

_I wanna say it now, wanna make it clear  
For only you and God to hear_

“Go out with me.” TK blurted, wincing slightly at how ineloquent it sounded, but watched in amazement as Carlos’s eyes widened in surprise, as if these words were never something he was planning to hear. 

TK vowed to never make Carlos surprised about how he felt ever again, not if he could help it. 

He was ready to start anew. 

“…As in, _out_ out? Or out?” Carlos was probably still a little shocked, and TK rolled his eyes, smiling as he could somehow still understand Carlos, even though he was a little incoherent at the moment. 

“As in a nice dinner, candlelight, holding hands and cuddling on the couch watching anything and everything kind of out. The kind of out where I tell you about the time I accidentally broke down a bus not 10 minutes into a long-awaited field trip when I was seven, or when I accidentally lured a bear to a campground one summer. Where we just…shed our uniforms and I get to know _you._ Because I _want_ to get to know you, if you let me-if you want.” TK wasn’t sure what he was even saying anymore, and didn’t really know if Carlos was getting what he was saying, but he was laying all his cards down in this moment, something he hadn’t done since that night when he held a ring in his hands.

He was taking a chance, he was holding out his heart in shaking hands in front of Carlos, where the man could either shatter it or…or not shatter it. 

_I don't wanna live without you (I don't wanna live)  
I don't wanna even breathe  
I don't wanna dream about you  
Wanna wake up with you next to me (next to me)_

TK thought he knew what love was. 

There had been Alex, where TK knew love to be gentle yet wild, a flame that glowed bright, but could be extinguished with the unexpected gust of wind. He had nurtured that flame, but sometimes…flames just simply extinguish. No warning, no context of time. 

Love was not something that could ever be easily understood.

As he stood in front of Carlos, waiting for his verdict, other first responders were carrying on with whatever they were doing, and people were still going about their lives. 

The world was still spinning. 

And TK-

“Okay.” 

TK had never felt the world spinning in tune with him, not really sure if that was what was happening right now in this moment, but for the first time in a long while he felt…unfrozen. 

“O…kay?” TK repeated, making sure he heard correctly, and Carlos nodded, his smile turning into a grin, which was not helping TK’s heart. 

“We…both get off around 8pm tomorrow…how does 9pm sound?” TK asked tentatively, and Carlos… smiled that crooked smile of his that never failed to make TK’s knees weak.

“Sounds good to me.” TK hadn’t felt this…light in a long time, and in a rush of courage, leaned forward to gently press his lips to Carlos’ cheek, smiling when the latter’s breath stuttered in surprise. 

“I’ll…see you then.” TK smiled, the two staring at each other for a few moments before TK shook himself out of it and spun around to meet back up with his team, who were trying and failing to seem like they hadn’t been spying on them the entire time. 

“Carlos looks like he just won the lottery.” Judd chuckled, and TK dared to look back to see Carlos already looking at him, a wide smile on his face even from a good distance away. TK felt his cheeks reddening, but still scowled at the teasing he had to endure from his team from now on. 

“Our TK’s growing up.” Paul wiped away a fake tear, and TK rolled his eyes as Marjan and Mateo looked at him with shit-eating grins on their faces. 

“We’re happy for you, kid.” Judd clapped him on the shoulder, and TK finally looked at his dad, who was looking at him with suspiciously tear-shined eyes, all the while with a huge grin on his face. 

“Ugh, please don’t get all sappy on me.” TK groaned, and Owen chuckled, pulling his son into a hug. 

_“You found your one day.”_ Owen murmured into his ear, and TK felt the familiar lump in his throat whenever his father sprouted comments like this out of nowhere. 

“I guess I have.” TK murmured back, and as the team headed back onto the truck to head back to the station, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Taking it out, he couldn’t help a smile at the text that greeted him on his lock-screen. 

_Carlos: Counting down the hours till tomorrow <3_

_I don't wanna go down any other road now  
I don't wanna love nobody but you (I don't wanna love nobody)_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)


End file.
